SOUL
by pandoraElf
Summary: "After all," he said with a sad smile, "What is an illusion, if not a different reality?" AU


He ran down the corridors, taking twists and turns to throw off his pursuers.

Panting heavily, he paused to breathe. His brain felt foggy. He couldn't think straight.

"Found him!"

He didn't bother turning around to look at his predator. He simply ran. He hadn't escaped from Muken just to take a leisurely stroll, after all.

The chase lasted another good ten minutes, but it ended when he turned a corner and came face-to-face with a white wall.

 _"Why does the Seireitei have all these dead ends, anyway!?"_

He turned around, knowing exactly what he would see. A squad of no less than twenty Shinigami faced him, Zanpakutos drawn and ready to slice at a moment's notice.

"That's far enough, traitor."

Normally, he would be able to dispose of all of them in a flash and even make sure no one would ever find their bodies, but he needed to finish this quickly and decisively.

He glanced down at his own Zanpakuto, which he had just recently managed to re-acquire. Could he use... _that_? It had been centuries since he had used it last...would it even still work?

Footsteps alerted him to the fact that more Shinigami were closing in. If he was going to do this, he had to do it now. He took a stance.

The squad leader evidently realized what he was about to do, and tried to shout a warning, but he was too late. The fateful word had already been spoken.

 **"Bankai!"**

And everything went white.

* * *

 **Over a century later...**

* * *

It was a normal morning in Karakura town. The residents were sleepily picking themselves up, slowly ambling out of bed to greet the new day. At least, most of them were.

"GOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOORNIIIIING IIIIIIICHIIIIAAAAAAAARGH!"

SLAM!

Yep. A perfectly normal Karakura morning.

* * *

After beating up his dad, getting dressed, getting breakfast, then beating up his dad again as he tried to ambush him on his way out, Ichigo Kurosaki couldn't help but feel a great deal of relief now that he was finally on his way to school. He had never like the old man's antics, but today they were making him especially grumpy.

Of course, school probably wouldn't be much better, as he would have to deal with Keigo...

He was broken out of his pessimistic thoughts as he noticed a glass with flowers in it next to a lamp post.

 _"That's right..."_ He mused. _"Someone died in a car accident here a few weeks ago..._

He continued on his way, making a mental note to find a flower himself and add it to the glass when he had the chance.

"Sad, isn't it?"

 _"The hell?"_

He whirled around to find a brown-haired man gazing sorrowfully at the flowers. He wore a strange white outfit that Ichigo had never seen before, but somehow, it seemed familiar.

"To think that a normal, average person could just die at such a young age," the man said, "Truly tragic. Fate is so unfair, isn't it?"

"You know, a normal, average person wouldn't just randomly start talking to a stranger about the whims of fate," Ichigo said warily.

"I see," said the man, smiling a strange smile. "Would it make a difference if I had given you my name first?"

"Tch. It's not like I would remember it, but sure, do what you like."

"Very well. My name is..."

Ichigo turned back around, barely paying the man any mind as he continued talking. Of course, he was right. Fate was unfair. Ichigo knew that firsthand. He'd known it for years now...

"Tell me, are you content with your life as it is now, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Ichigo halted. "...I don't remember giving you my name."

"You didn't."

"...Well, since you seem to know so much about me...you tell me. Am I content with my life?"

"You aren't. Of course, you aren't dissatisfied with it...but you feel it's missing something. You want power. The power to protect. That's what your name means, doesn't it? The One Who Protects..."

"...You're right," Ichigo mused. "I do want the power to protect. What difference does it make to you?"

"Would you accept it, even if it changed your world forever?"

Ichigo grimaced. "Alright, now this is just getting creepy." He turned around. "What the hell do you even want-"

The man was gone.

 _"...What the hell was that all about?"_

Ichigo thought back to earlier in the conversation, namely when he had offered up his name. He was notoriously bad at remembering names and faces, but he had just met the guy a minute ago. His memory wasn't _that_ bad.

He hadn't paid much attention to the man's name then, but now he rolled it around in his head, wondering if he had met him somewhere before.

The name seemed familiar...Like it had some grave importance that he had somehow forgotten.

Well, he got the feeling he wouldn't forget it anytime soon.

That man's name...

Sosuke Aizen...


End file.
